Some sociology faculty salaries edge up: New research brief

The ASA Department of Research has released its 2012-2013 analysis of salary trend data for the academic sociology profession and other social sciences. Among our findings: average annual faculty salary changes between Academic Year (AY) 2011/12 and AY 2012/13 show slow or no growth in salaries at public institutions, compared to private institutions.

FACULTY: What happened in the past academic year to salaries at your institution?  Why?

How well does your dean know the sociology profession?

Recently, a number of academic sociology department chairs expressed to us a desire for the deans of their schools to further develop their understanding of the sociology discipline and coursework. The ASA Department of Research is here to help.

Sociology is relevant to helping undergrads cultivate social science research skills, develop a better understanding of their lives, and make decisions about careers or future graduate study. It also has an interdisciplinary nature, which brings a wealth of subject matter and technical approaches to several different disciplines such as engineering and even medicine.

ASA’s Research Department conducts large- and small-scale surveys of academic sociologists and sociology students, providing information about satisfaction with the sociology major, profiles of and trends in sociology departments, demographic information (e.g., addressing race and gender) in the profession and discipline, and other vital data. The bulk of its work culminates in freely-available research and data briefs that can be downloaded from our web site.

Help us to inform the dean of your school/college of sociology’s role in life and work. If you are a faculty member of a freestanding or joint department that offers a sociology major, please submit the name and email address of your school’s dean using the form below. Information submitted through our blog is transmitted securely and will never appear on this blog site. In turn, we will share with them timely and relevant information to them (via a single email message), such as links to our various research and data briefs on the profession, and other critical findings of interest. If they wish to receive further information or future updates from us, we will provide them with that option.

Should you have questions about this endeavor, please contact Robert Spalter-Roth, Director of the Department of Research, at research@asanet.org.

Name of Your School's Dean(required)

Email address of your school's dean(required)

Have you taken our 2012 census of academic sociology departments? We’re seeking critical feedback on your survey experience.

Since 1997, the Research Department of the American Sociological Association has conducted a census of U.S. academic sociology departments. The survey instrument has been designed to meet the information needs of those sociology departments, including demographic data about faculty, and types of courses offered. In June 2012, we launched our 2012 department survey and expect to complete the data collection process soon.

For those of you who already have completed the 2012 survey, we in the Research Department wish to know:

What aspects or sections of the survey were most challenging or time consuming for you to complete? Were there certain types of information that you were not able to obtain or obtain in their entirety?

• What aspects or sections of the survey were the simplest or least time consuming for you to complete?
• Did you delegate the gathering of information for this survey to departmental staff or other colleagues?
• Did completing this survey help you or your department faculty or staff in other ways (such as providing information to your administration)?

Please use this blog as a forum for discussing your experiences with taking this survey.  Your thoughts will be extraordinarily helpful when we interpret the survey results and when design our next census of academic sociology departments in the United States.

New Data on Sociology and Social Science Faculty Salaries

Our latest brief, “Two Years of Lost Purchasing Power: 2011 – 2012 Faculty Salary Brief for Sociology and Other Social Science Disciplines,” discusses trends in faculty salaries. For this brief, we use data from the National Faculty Salary Survey, collected by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).

You can find other research briefs available to download for free on our website.

Upcoming Regional Meetings

Look for ASA staff at these upcoming regional meetings:

• March 21 – 24: Southern Sociological Society (SSS) Annual Meeting at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans
• March 22 -25: Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) Annual Meeting at the Harbor Island Sheraton Hotel
• March 29 – April 1: Midwest Sociological Society (MSS) Annual Meeting at the Marriott Minneapolis City Center
• April 4 – 7: Southwestern Social Science Association (SWSSA) Annual Meeting at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego

Research Director, Roberta Spalter-Roth, will be hosting the early-morning chairs breakfast at the Southern Sociological Society’s Annual Meeting on Friday, March 23. There, we will be discussing one of our major upcoming projects — the 2012 Department Survey — and asking chairs for their input about issues their departments are currently facing, and how these could be addressed in the new survey.

Even if you will not be attending these meetings, we would still like to hear from your department. Post your comments and tell us what about the issues most important to your department. What is it that you would you like to see addressed in the 2012 Department Survey?

What Do You Want to Know About Sociology Departments or Programs?

This year, the ASA Research Department will be conducting a new survey of sociology departments and programs. We are asking departments for their input as we begin drafting the 2012 questionnaire. What would you like to see addressed in the new survey? What are the issues that your department or program are currently facing? What information does the Dean want to know?

Please post your comments.

For Departments Participating in the New Survey of Sociology Majors

The Research Department has begun a new longitudinal study of senior sociology majors from the class of 2012. To conduct this study, the ASA has asked participating departments for the names and email addresses of students that will be invited to take the survey in the Spring. Department chairs and undergraduate program directors tend to face obstacles in providing this information, including sometimes strict Institutional Review Board requirements. We invite faculty to use this space as a forum for questions and to share experiences that might help other departments facing the same obstacles.

For those of you unfamiliar with the study, visit our website to learn more, download the Phase I questionnaire, and view a list of participating departments.

Looking for Data on Sociology?

Want to know how many bachelors degrees were awarded in sociology in 1990? Or maybe how sociology faculty salaries compare to political science? You can find this, and other data on sociology and social science degrees and enrollment, employment, funding, and sociology programs, as well as ASA membership on our Trend Data page. Links to similar datasets can be found on our Data Resources page.

The Impact of Cross-Race Mentoring on PhD Careers

A new research brief, “The Impact of Cross-Race Mentoring for ‘Ideal’ and ‘Alternative’ PhD Careers in Sociology” is now available on our website. As always, we invite your comments and questions.

Question of the Week: PhDs and Applied Careers

How does your department encourage PhD candidates to learn about applied research or policy positions?

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The Powerpoint slideshow, “Findings From ASA Surveys of Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD Recipients: Implications for Departments in a Jobless Recovery,” presents findings from studies about sociologists’ participation in the non-academic job market. Other research briefs on the post-graduation paths of sociology baccalaureates and master’s graduates can be found on our website.